This is a discussion on Heads up with a fish within the online poker forums, in the Tournament Poker section; So my friend who plays poker once in a blue moon calls me and asks to go to play live $17 tournament.
I really didn't want

Heads up with a fish

So my friend who plays poker once in a blue moon calls me and asks to go to play live $17 tournament.

I really didn't want to go but i was like lets see how the fishes still play.

Went there and OMG, people were calling with Ace high on rivers, on flop and every where. Calling 3 bet with A3off.

So i made it to final two..heads up who called all in on the flop with ace high when guy had a pair and he got lucky and hit his ace on river.

The tournament had about 13 runners and structure was 15 Min blinds no antes.

Heads up, we are both shallow, I have stack triple of his stack. I go all in with KQh, he calls with 59o.

Obviously he wins, hence this thread, next had i had A3off, i shove and he calls with 9Joff.

So my question is, should i have played more passive and post flop? I have an edge over that since all in pre is basically who is hitting on which percentage. But we are not deep enough, we are literally, 8-10 bb each.

#2

1st June 2016, 6:08 PM

JPainTrainSicko [405]

Online Poker at: ACR

Game: NLH, PLO

Congrats on getting to heads up!
Fine play from all appearances, if you have triple his stack and have 8-10 bb any raise effectively puts him in or close to it. Then once your even, shoving ace high is fine and you get it in good in this spot 60-40. Tough luck but that happens. Continue to play well and Good Luck!!

#3

1st June 2016, 7:29 PM

Speedbruce [245]

Poker at: Pokerstars

Game: Holdem

I dont like this A3o shove. Its much better just raise to ~2,5x and see the flop in position.

#4

1st June 2016, 8:21 PM

bbiase [172]

Online Poker at: Party Poker

Game: Holdem

Originally Posted by Speedbruce

I dont like this A3o shove. Its much better just raise to ~2,5x and see the flop in position.

And fold if the opponent comes over the top with his 59? No way. A3 is a correct shove 8-10 bb deep.

You played it right, tough run.

#5

1st June 2016, 10:51 PM

dgospa [1,294]

Poker at: Pokerstars

Game: Holdem

re: Poker & Heads up with a fish

Originally Posted by Raibik13

So my friend who plays poker once in a blue moon calls me and asks to go to play live $17 tournament.

I really didn't want to go but i was like lets see how the fishes still play.

Went there and OMG, people were calling with Ace high on rivers, on flop and every where. Calling 3 bet with A3off.

So i made it to final two..heads up who called all in on the flop with ace high when guy had a pair and he got lucky and hit his ace on river.

The tournament had about 13 runners and structure was 15 Min blinds no antes.

Heads up, we are both shallow, I have stack triple of his stack. I go all in with KQh, he calls with 59o.

Obviously he wins, hence this thread, next had i had A3off, i shove and he calls with 9Joff.

So my question is, should i have played more passive and post flop? I have an edge over that since all in pre is basically who is hitting on which percentage. But we are not deep enough, we are literally, 8-10 bb each.

In heads up i dont wont to be passive if u are chip leader be agressive but dont go all in with A3 off in some speculative hands. Sorry for bad english

#6

2nd June 2016, 12:21 AM

MoryMorte [229]

Online Poker at: ACR

Sometime you can't do much with the fish. I usually try to get good card and shove but you should have the ACE in your hand because that's the way fishes play.
I get mad when I loose A9 to 10 5 but what you can do? That's poker anyways and sometimes IT IS CRUEL AF.

#7

2nd June 2016, 9:05 AM

Raibik13 [70]

Originally Posted by Speedbruce

I dont like this A3o shove. Its much better just raise to ~2,5x and see the flop in position.

I do not know about this since we are only like 8 - 10 bb each.

#8

7th June 2016, 5:52 PM

lvlalaciuca [147]

Online Poker at: pokerstars

Game: holdem

Heads up with a fish

yes, it is a pleasure when stay at the table heads up with a fish.
It is my favorite part.
I did not know how to approach the heads up , but I've learned along the way.

#9

7th June 2016, 9:55 PM

vassiriki [135]

Poker at: pokerstars

it all depends on the opposition i think. people tend to play more aggressively when they're heads up especially when they have the chip lead and that's very right to play so if the blinds are high. if not, just play solid and the aggressive ones will trap themselves. it's all about your opponent's perception on risk, analyze him/her before and after flop on taking risks and play accordingly i say

#10

9th June 2016, 7:11 PM

rule72 [46]

re: Poker & Heads up with a fish

What I've read and the way I play is: If I'm the better player I keep the pots small and play poker. If the other player is better I get more aggressive especially in position.

However, if he has 8-10 blinds heads up he is correct to shove with a wide range so in a sense by your pushing his and calling he's maybe playing more correctly.

In your situation limping or small raises with any hand then seeing the flop he might be more likely to fold to a c-bet with 1-2 over cards on the board to his hand. On the other hand sometimes the poker gods just watch out for the fish.

Congrats on the finish regardless.

#11

9th June 2016, 7:21 PM

Senneville [547]

Poker at: pokersta ACR

Game: holdem no li

in heads up you need to be aggressif if not you will screw. All figure is good in head up , maybe trapping is more the game to play. When somebody just call my alert button flash for sure. When 3 bet all time in the button the guy have rarely something. Thats my point of view and I play heads up about 30 time maybe 50 time a day. lot of heads up on different platform.

the fish are my favorite, because in one hand prune leave without chips. ha ha
you got to wait for the right hand

#14

15th June 2016, 7:36 PM

SuzdalDEcor [511]

If you have more chips than opp, you must play very agressive. If you small more limps.

#15

15th June 2016, 8:05 PM

ceedonsson [6]

Poker at: PokerStars

Game: holdem

re: Poker & Heads up with a fish

you played it by the book, but sometimes if they fold alot and don't shove over your raise you can start min raising or limping in if you feel you have the edge. By doing that you also open yourself to other preflop scenarios when really having a hand rather then only shoving and folding plus the postflop outplay xD

#16

17th June 2016, 6:30 AM

Lance Webster [201]

Online Poker at: betonline po

Game: hold em

congrats on getting to final 2. you played right you had your money in with best hand sucks that you didnt win

#17

17th June 2016, 5:40 PM

subdylzep [143]

Poker at: Am Cardroom

Game: holdem,omaha

Absolutely, You should have played more post flop. If you had him crushed like that in your stack there is no excuse for you losing the heads up battle. I mean if he continues to push every time post flop it might throw you off a little but seriously you should know, being a good player, that its more about what happens after the flop then before the flop even if you were ahead. And lets be honest you werent a strong favorite preflop, remember 4-1 still means they win 25% of the time, which honestly isnt that far behind. Even if they are at worst 10-1 preflop they still win 10% so i mean its more about luck, when u take the luck factor out of the game and watch the cards come on the flop turn and river you are playing more skill and you can play off the persons tendencies, calling him when hes bluffing and stealing pots when you know he isn't interested. Take the luck out of the equation and take him to school. I mean if you ever watch high stakes cash games with the pros you should know you'll never see them push their KK or AA, this isn't because they are worried they are behind or wont win, its because they know there is more value to playing the hand out and seeing the cards before putting up 100K inside the pot against someone who can suck out w 25% chance or so or even a 20% chance. Its about taking the luck out of the game and playing more skill then anything. The more chips, the longer the blinds, the more post flop play, the more skill is going to be involved. It is up to you as the experienced player to dictate how the game is going to be played especially when you have so many more chips. If he continues to push preflop everytime you'll have to take a chance eventually, but more often than not the player will start to slow down knowing he cant get anywhere w that strategy, you will prevail... trust me. Gl in the future.

#18

17th June 2016, 5:43 PM

subdylzep [143]

Online Poker at: Am Cardroom

Game: holdem,omaha

exactly as member rule 72 said. For the fish it could be more advantageous to play preflop and get lucky, you should be playing post flop and keeping pots small and playing more poker with less luck because you have more skill. Not to say your opponent played wrong, he probably actually played correct because his lack of skill, but its up to you as the chip leader to adjust the pace and style of the game. Usually aggression is the answer to everything, but not always, its a very situational game, and every variable changes that situation.

#19

17th June 2016, 7:36 PM

GuiWah [153]

Poker at: PokerStars

You played right. This hand is too strong in headsup. ou got notes vs your opponent. Even so you got notes from your opponent. Well played! ^_^

#20

18th June 2016, 5:36 AM

Broon1234 [132]

Game: NL HE

re: Poker & Heads up with a fish

with stacks so shallow your only option is to push all in. A3 is a great push hand in this situation. You got unlucky. If stacks were larger and your skill is more greater you want to avoid all ins but this situation you must

#21

18th June 2016, 9:25 AM

3ccasd [232]

with a stack of 8-9 + blinds, you need to play in raising the hand from the phone jack and any fifth card.
And go all in with A + at any stack to less than 7 blinds.

#22

22nd June 2016, 11:32 PM

GeorgeF1234 [57]

Online Poker at: PokerStars

Game: NLHE

Against an opponent who you know is going to call all in with absolute garbage, I'd say you did the right thing and just got really unlucky. In a situation like this where you know you're up against a fish, I don't mind taking the long way and just slowly grinding them down over a long period of time. It's less risk but the only downside is the time taken. Well done on getting to the final 2 though

#23

23rd June 2016, 12:33 AM

SBEP [300]

U should tighten up at first, dont go all in till u get a good feel for his range, when u do that, then u can decide if A3of is a allin pre flop, but u have to play with him to get a sense of his play, and get in to his head, but all gung ho at the beginning i really dont like that, its really a coin flip, and if he run lucky, thats it for u.

#24

23rd June 2016, 6:31 AM

jgreenman18 [147]

Game: NLHE

Heads up with a fish

I actually frequent live games with fish I think the best strategy against them is too keep the pots low pre and bet out on flops fish overvalue hand pre usually. Slowly just edge them unless u get any monsters anyway then shove and if you lose Ya lose

#25

23rd June 2016, 6:45 AM

dudu10grande [91]

Poker at: PokerStars

Game: Yes.

re: Poker & Heads up with a fish

If you had a better understanding than his, you should have taken the front of heads up, playing more aggressive and dictating the pace of the game, now as the hands you went ahead and ended up losing part, but what matters it is if you made the best decisions throughout the hand.